Monday Madness

Message from Otto: This week's questions come from our good friend, and faithful participant, gabrielle. Thanks so much for your questions, Gabrielle!! And everyone, thank you for playing and have a wonderful week! (I may be taking Christmas Day off, which is in 2 weeks, so if you don't see questions posted that day, don't panic. I will certainly be back the following week.) =)

1. What song gives you the most holiday cheer?
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire ... (not sure of the exact title but I love hearing that song). I always stop and enjoy it whenever I hear it being played on air. My son is learning to sing some lines of the song.

update: Dawn has nicely informed me that the title of the song is just simply "The Christmas Song". Thanks!

2. Who is the hardest person to shop for on your holiday list?
No one in particular.

3. When do you start your holiday shopping?
Last year, we started as early as October and we were done before the end of November. But this year, we're totally late with our Christmas shopping. I told my husband that we should finish our list before the week ends.

4. What food or drink do you love when it's cold out? (Recipes and recommendations, please!)
I love churros and hot chocolate. It's perfect during cold days. We've never made churros at home before. But I found this recipe that might interest you.

Churros Recipe

5 cups water
8 ounces butter
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon nutmeg
5 cups all purpose flour
8 eggs
1 pint corn oil
Cinnamon Sugar, recipe follows
Chocolate Caliente, recipe follows

Heat water, butter, salt, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and nutmeg to a rolling boil. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball (about one minute). Remove from heat. Beat eggs in all at once. Continue beating until smooth. Let the dough cool. Place dough in a piping bag with a star tip. In a large frying pan, heat corn oil. Pipe the churros in long rods directly into the hot corn oil. Fry until golden brown on all sides. Dust with Cinnamon Sugar and serve with Chocolate Caliente.

Cinnamon sugar:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together and store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Caliente:
1 quart milk
1/2 pound Mexican chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sugar

Bring milk to a boil. Add in chocolate and sugar. Stir over heat until chocolate is melted and sugar has dissolved.
Yield: 4 servings
[recipe source]

5. What do you do to get rid of a cold or flu?
I drink lots of fresh fruit juices especially calamansi.

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